Jose Mourinho praised his team for their second half turnaround following their 2-1 victory over Sheriff to begin their Europa League campaign.
Leading at the break, the hosts leveled the score ten minutes into the second half before Romelu Lukaku scored in the 65th minute to secure the Giallorossi a victory.
“I didn’t like the first half, we were too slow and weren’t aggressive,” he told Sky Sport.
“We didn’t play the way we had prepared, we didn’t control the game. The first goal was a miralce, we didn’t do anything to deserve the lead. We still lacked aggression, but we took control of the game. We deserved to win, which was the most important thing.”
Mourinho was also asked about the status of midfielder Renato Sanches, who exited midway through the first half after he tweaked his hamstring—potentially risking already his second injury layoff of the early season.
“Unfortunately, this is Sanches, he’s always at risk of getting hurt,” lamented The Special One.
“The whole thing is very difficult to understand. Bayer Munich couldn’t figure out the issue, PSG couldn’t, and now we’re struggling to understand it.”
“He’s a great player, he needs to play—he had three days of rest and felt more than ready to play another 45 minutes today. However, he felt a tweak.”
